NATIONAL SECURITY

Attacks in Afghanistan End; Taliban Free 400 Inmates

By Jonathan Miller

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U.S. soldiers with the NATO- led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are seen during a foot patrol in Kandahar, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012. The process of taking over security from over 130,000-strong NATO-led ISAF forces by Afghan troops would be completed by the end of 2014 when Afghanistan will take over the full leadership of its own security duties from U.S. and NATO forces. (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)(AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

A wave of attacks in Kabul and across eastern Afghanistan was ended by Afghan security forces on Monday, with 38 attackers killed, The New York Times reported. In Pakistan, the Taliban freed nearly 400 inmates.

The attacks on Western embassies, NATO headquarters and Afghan government facilities, though spectacular, resulted in only four reported civilian deaths. Eight members of the Afghan security forces were killed, The Times said.

An Afghan military official said an attacker confessed that the militants came from Pakistan, The Times reported.

The Afghans dealt with the attacks almost entirely on their own. A small number of Westerners supported the operation.

On Sunday, the Taliban stormed a prison in Pakistan, The Times said, freeing 384 prisoners, including a militant commander who attempted to assassinate former President Pervez Musharraf.